How quickly the news changes overnight. The ship that last appeared to be salvagable his now mostly underwater and a lost cause. Furthermore, it is reported that some 50 - 70 are reported to be missing. We are not sure why they would not have an exact count of who is missing already, but I am sure we will have a clearer picture soon. The Costa Concordia, a large cruise ship based in Italy but belonging to Costa Cruises, a cruise line in the Carnival Corp. Family, apparently struck ground near a tiny island named Giglio off the coast of Italy. The ship had just loaded a new contingent of passengers in Savona, near the city of Genoa on the West coast of Italy.

Passengers reported that the ship jolted suddenly while they were eating dinner. The captain came on the public address system to tell the passengers and crew that the ship had experienced an electrical fault, however witnesses quoted in European newspapers said it was obvious that the ship had hit something. They said they felt a sudden jolt quickly followed by a large banging sound.

Right now there are reports that three to six people have died although their names and whether or not they were passengers or crew has not been specified. There are reports of sightings of people dying after jumping into the water in a panic however that has not been confirmed, but it is being reported by CNN that 50 - 70 peopler are missing.

The lack of specificity is somewhat staggering to us here at CruiseMates considering it is late in the day in Europe already, the ship is close to shore, and there has been plenty of time to do an accounting of every passenger.

Costa Concordia is identical in superstructure to the Carnival Splendor, the ship that lost power off the coast of Mexico two years ago. However that is just a coincidence and the two incidents are not related.

All of the Costa Concordia passengers were evacuated after the captain sounded the abandoned ship signal of six short and one long blasts of the ship's horn. To evacuate the ship the passengers went through the muster drill just as it had been rehearsed a few hours previously just after embarkation, assuming this cruise took the regular protocol for boarding passengers.

Although the ship was listing at 20º soon after it struck ground company representatives said the vessel is in no danger of sinking. However, in the morning the ship was fully on its side in the water and it appears it will be fully submerged (if it is not already) soon. It has been reported that the ship struck a shallow underwater shoal off the Punta Gabbianara cape close to the island. Although ships have radar and charts to warn them of such obstacles, charts can be outdated or inaccurate and large ships cannot perform last minute evasive maneuvers. Without a doubt, a complete investigation into the incident will commence shortly.

The passengers were taken to the island of Giglio, which means "Lily" in English. The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean leaving from Savona, near Genoa, with planned ports of call in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille, Costa cruise lines reported.

It seemed pretty unlikely to me that anyone would jump overboard in a panic - and even if they did - the ship was close to the island according to the picture that shows itr listing at 20-degrees while basically tied up to a landing.

There are also reports of a Giglio mayor saying "he fears more may be dead as it is proving very difficult to get the last remaining passengers off the ship."

Umm... if this picture is real (from a newspaper) then why would anyone be panicking?

But this morning we have a different picture - see the picture below and the following news article:

Last edited by Paul Motter; January 14th, 2012 at 10:28 AM.
Reason: New Update

Reuters has the loss of life at 8, while CNN and the BBC have the count at 6. A tragedy either way. Some reports say people jumped and swam to shore. They also rescued 50 by helecopter in some accounts. Not a good day for Costa .

I really don't understand why anyone would jump from the ship - that is not a rational act. The ship is always the safest place to be. They have watertight compartments.

"the ship as the lifeboat" is the whole reason they did not evacuate Carnival Splendor. It's a tough thing to say, but if people jumped off the ship that is not Costa's fault. That is like jumping out of a plane just because it hits turbulence.

But people don't know. I guess the shock of the moment was a lot scarier than initial news reports of a bump at dinner, right?

CBS reported the gash is 50 meters (165 ft) in length. That isn't good. It will be interesting to find out how this happened. My thoughts go out to the passengers and families of those who died and were injured.

Take care,
Mike

__________________Cruisemates Community Leader/Moderator

"There is a great difference between being well traveled and just having been to many places." ~Me

I can easily understand people jumping overboard. People panic and do irrational things. If they think that the ship is sinking they will jump. It's the wrong thing to do but I've seen people panic before and do some pretty irrational stuff.

Take care,
Mike

__________________Cruisemates Community Leader/Moderator

"There is a great difference between being well traveled and just having been to many places." ~Me

Also the list to port, even at 20 degrees, would be much worse inside the ship than it looks from the outside. Walking from port to starboard would be very difficult and walking from from stern to aft or vice versa would also be very difficult, especially on the starboard side.

Not a good night.

Take care,
Mike

__________________Cruisemates Community Leader/Moderator

"There is a great difference between being well traveled and just having been to many places." ~Me

Mike M, I think you got it. From what I read, there was panic on the ship, and rationality is usually the first thing lost in a panic situation. I also heard on one report (from a crewmember) that they had problems launching the lifeboats. This would only fuel the panic.

She is on her side reports were of six dead now they have reduced that to four, passengers still missing. 70 Mtr gash in her side reports are that most of the lifeboats could not be launched due to her listing almost immediately.
Helicoptors have been used and liferafts to get the passengers to shore they are now searching the wreck to recover any more bodies

From the Giglio News website. It looks like she is now on her side on the sandbar. Not good for Costa or the cruise industry. This is the sister ship to the Carnival Splendor and not some Greek or Russian Ferry.

Take care,
Mike

__________________Cruisemates Community Leader/Moderator

"There is a great difference between being well traveled and just having been to many places." ~Me

UK cruisers have posted on a UK forum that allegedly Costa carry out the Boat Drill on the 2nd day of a cruise? If so - this could lead to a major overhaul of regulations. So all those who try and skip safety drill - don't.e

I do not know if that is true but assuming it is - that may have contributed to the panic.

I think Mike M nailed it - people do panic. I know from experience of being trapped in a building that was on fire

I am so glad I was not there and feel for those involved.

Apparently the little lsland only has a population of 1500.

No doubt we will learn more and for this to happen so close to the 100th anniversary of Titanic.

My family have already asked me if I am cancelling my next cruise - no chance.

To all extents & purposes the ship has sunk, everyone got off, some died they say after jumping off the ship. This is a big relatively new ship with up to date technology, makes you wonder what it hit, something that wasn't supposed to be there I bet like a stray container?
Anyone noticed that it was FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH.....!!

To all extents & purposes the ship has sunk, everyone got off, some died they say after jumping off the ship. This is a big relatively new ship with up to date technology, makes you wonder what it hit, something that wasn't supposed to be there I bet like a stray container?
Anyone noticed that it was FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH.....!!

I just awoke to see the devistating pictures,and hearing the horrible situation. A woman from the USA, said the staff was not effective, and, again, the electrical excuse was reiderated. ABC also reported 3 deaths, vs a high of nine on Twitter, from cruise sources...

A harrowing situation for all involved,and my prayers go out, the search brings no more deaths.

If you're just waking up this morning prepare yourself for a developing tragedy concerning the 112,000 ton Costa Concordia that is only five years old.

It evidently hit a reef off the coast of Tuscany that tore a 150 foot gash in it's side and it is currently on it's side with half of it under water. There are Americans listed as passengers. Thus far there are over one hundred dead but no one knows if they're passengers or crew or mixed. It appears everyone has been evacuated and they're now trying to search the ship for more survivors and or bodies.

Stunningly the crew evidently panicked as well when they realized the ship was in real trouble and started to list dangerously not to mention that even though the cruise began on 8 January there still hadn't been a lifeboat drill! The passengers had to yell at the crew to get them to start lowering the lifboats but by that time it was often too late and many of the boats were either already under water on the submerged side and not many were able to be lowered on the opposite side because of the severe list.

Sad sad news

Now they're saying that there are only three known dead and sixty something missing.

On the Today show the report from Italy this morning there are only 3 confirmed dead but there are at least 14 passengers missing so there are divers checking the staterooms. Also on the report it was stated that the ship was way off course when it went aground. There is a very large gash so of course the water came in.

From the photos I have seen the one saving thing is that it is water that is not real deep so it should not be sinking much more that it already has.

What a terrible thing to happen. This kind of thing shouldnt happen to anyone.Now that I have said that let me say something that I am sure I will get attacked over. Isnt that a chance you take when you step on a ship? Just like stepping on a plane.I feel (with no facts to back it up) that people get passive and maybe forget about the risk and dangers related to heading out to sea! Do people really think this kind of accident was never going to happen?To me its a chance I am willing to take to go on a cruise. There are no guarentes in life. Let me say again that this was a terrible thing to happen and I fell for everyone involed